We just concluded the final stage in a Train the Trainers programme with Vietrade in Hanoi, Vietnam. The assignment was conducted on behalf of the United Nations International Trade Centre (ITC). In 3 short missions, we coached two local trainers to develop and implement a 3 days workshop on trade information management for business support organisations. In a period of 4 months, a training needs analysis was carried out, detailed training briefings were developed, training methodologies selected, presentations and assignments prepared. This week, it culminated in a pilot training course, conducted in Hanoi.

Around 20 participants from various business associations participated. They gained knowledge and skills in trade information collection, processing and dissemination. On top of that they exchanged ideas on improving their strategies, adding value to their trade information service, and using social networks to promote their services. The workshop was evaluated by the participants as excellent and will be replicated in 2010 in several regions.

Brainstorming session facilitated for international guerilla marketing campaigns for the furniture, home textiles and home decorations sector from the Philippine. They need to tap their creativity, to get back on the map of the international buyers. Can we create a buzz again? Yes, we can. We brainstormed several ideas that can ignite a good buzz in Frankfurt around the next Ambiente fair in 2010. The excitement has already started. By next month, some promotional strategies will be confirmed. We will keep you posted.

Just conducted a session on value chain analysis (VCA) with a group of local export marketing management experts in Cebu, the Philippines. The VCA was part of a process to develop an export marketing strategy for the creative sectors in Cebu. The new strategy should reposition the sector vis-a-vis the intensifying competition from other Asian countries and should help the sector gain market share after the blows of the economic crisis.

The creative sectors, including furniture and home decoration, face several challenges but yet there are ample opportunities. The core issue at stake is that the creative sectors will need to tap their creativity for branding and guerilla marketing efforts. The good news is: we are there to make it happen! So, hang in there and stay posted on inspiring new ideas, and promotional actions. The world will soon be surprised again and indulge in Filipino creativity. 

As an iD Consultancy Associate, manning our operations in Asia, I am strengthening our networks in India by joining a training for a group of 30 Indian technology consultants. The time has come for Indian SME’s to compete at a new level, by selling technology based products - a vast untapped potential with India’s highly educated workforce and the country’s substantial investment in technology and technology transfer in recent years.

Last week I joined the group in Rotterdam, where they are getting first hand exposure to the European market after two months of desk research on behalf of their clients. Much can be done nowadays on the internet with all the information it offers, but ultimately to minimize the risk of failure, we need to go to the market to get the information from the horse’s mouth.

In Rotterdam the group had the opportunity to talk to buyers and sector experts as well as conduct a few store checks for B2C products.Their original ideas of market segments and links in the distribution channels swayed a little left and right before setting on the correct course. Meanwhile the tone of the strategy discussions changed, moving away from opportunities the product will bring to how it will best match the market now that the group understood the market with so much more certainty. This is the moment when the consultant realizes he has cracked it and now can offer his client value for money.

Many small companies skip this step because of the expense, but the trade-off is learning the hard way through a series of returned shipments that will be a hell of a lot more expensive! An alternative to maximize invested time spent could be to hear from the horse’s mouth at a trade fair. But the return here may be less because it is difficult to get people’s undivided attention when they are trying to maximize their time at the trade fair too.